Arjan Scherpenisse

Chatbot programmer, Elixir evangelist

The Elixir parser under the microscope

The Elixir parser can be used for purposes other than compiling code. For example, to transform the AST into SQL fragments. Even a basic, interpreted "Elixir-ish" programming language is easy to build, in a few hundred lines of code. However, using the built in parser also has its drawbacks: it creates atoms, and the AST is non-reversible. In this talk, Arjan will zoom in on the inner workings of the Elixir parser and his efforts to create a non-destructive, "atom-safe" Elixir parser.

Arjan Scherpenisse is an experienced Elixir and Erlang developer. After freelancing as a backend developer for several years, he founded his startup Botsquad, an Elixir-powered chatbot platform, on which he now works full-time. Besides coding, he really enjoys teaching and transferring his knowledge to the next generation of software developers.